Minato's town: run away from all your problems
by KidKrow
Summary: Minato Arisato, musical prodigy, broken hearted angst ridden teen, vessel for supernatural eldricth personifications. This is the beginning of his tale. He awaits mis-fortune, healing, re-connection, and bad-assery. Not to mention some kickass music as well. Care to have a listen? pairings undecided.
1. Chapter 1

_**A/n: This is a bit of labor of love for me. This story is on its seventeenth version now, and there will likely be a posted rewrite in the future. Now to get some details cleared up: The story takes place in 2012 to 2013, Minato is half American and the lead singer/ creative drive (like Roy Wood from ELO) behind an indie band he formed with his friends from New York, and have no fear this will be following the regular persona 3 story, well not really . Now, as an ode to Brandon Flowers, Minato's band will be replacing The Killers in this universe, with some album release dates and some facts altered though. Now Minato is still reeling from the events of the band's breakup and is about to do something stupid and slightly illegal (Hint: he's taking a page out of the Beatles' break up hand book).**_

My fingers are shaking; I'm barely able to keep my fingers on my guitar's pegs, my breathing is shallow and labored, and I can hear my heartbeat pounding in my ears. This is stupid, but at least it wasn't my idea. All around the rooftop I can see buildings towering over Pop's two story brownstone. I turn around to see Pop gripping his drum sticks grinning, and he winks. It's a silent signal, his way of saying give 'em hell kiddo. That's all I need, and I turn back around to the microphone, and then count off to the sound of a drum roll.

_One._

_Two._

_Three._

Pop's ex-bandmate, whose name escapes me, starts the synth melody, and my guitar pulls my fingers across the frets. I take a deep breath then started to sing. It was pop's idea to do this, perform the second album on the roof of his home. Total Beatles bullshit, but why not, I still have all the rights to perform the songs and such.

_Nobody ever had a dream round here, but I don't really mind that it's starting to get to me. Nobody ever pulls the seams round here, but I don't really mind that it's starting to get to me_

And I realize something: I'm excited for performing again. I haven't felt like this since three years ago. Back when everyone was so obsessed with the band filled with musical prodigies, Silent Knight. When there wasn't bullshit romantic tension between everyone. Before I walked in on the most disgusting scene I had ever beheld.

_I've got this energy beneath my feet, like something underground's gonna come up and carry me. I've got this sentimental heart that beats, but I don't really mind that it's starting to get to me now_

Sam's town was my baby, an album no one expected. Shaving off the pop-shit for a Queen- Esque sense of grandiosity. I wrote every synth line, drum break, guitar line and melody. Initial reaction from bandmates and general public? Whining that I had created a piece of shit. That I had taken a step back in my ability as a musician. Of course Rolling Stone said later they were wrong and it was one of the most under-rated albums of the decade. Still, we never played it live, and it's kind of ironic that I'm performing it without anyone else from the band.

_Why do you waste my time? Is the answer to the question on your mind and I'm sick of all my judges. So scared of what they'll find, but I know that I can make it as long as somebody takes me home every now and then._

We thought we were going to be immortal, that we were going to go down in the annals of rock history. Then we started to date each other, well there was five of us, three guys and two girls, so there was two couples and a man-slut. Sara and I had… I thought I loved her. Then walking in on her with **HIM.** It was too much, then Kai and Alice broke up and the band fell apart just when album four, battle born came out. Kind of fitting, seeing as that album was the one I was involved with the least. It was too pretentious and self-righteous. Hot Fuss and Sam's Town were everything we….. I was feeling. All my teenage angst and dissatisfaction and loneliness.

_Well have you ever seen the lights? Have you ever seen the lights?  
I took a shuttle on a shockwave ride where people on the pen pull the trigger for accolade. I took a bullet and I looked inside it running through my veins an American masquerade. _

I lost my parents ten years ago as well as my left eye. My mother's father took me in and taught me about music. I don't think he expected me to have such a gift for it. Neither did I though. Then I met my…. Friends and that's how it started. Hot Fuss was a huge success and I was happy, though I never showed it.

_I still remember grandma Dixie's wake. I've never really known anybody to die before. Red, white and blue upon a birthday cake. My brother, he was born on the fourth of the July and that's all. _

This is the last time I'll be performing I think. Call it while I'm at my peak. Next week I'm moving to Japan, to dad's home town. Just to start over, escape. It was pop's idea. Where would I be without him?

_ Why do you waste my time? Is the answer to the question on your mind and I'm sick of all my judges. They're so scared of letting me shine, but I know that I can make it as long as somebody takes me home (Woo.) Every now and then. Every now and then._

The song is almost over. Eleven more after this one. Will I get over this stuff? I know I won't fit in at some Japanese school. My humor, style, and interest are just too American. That's why I'm going though. To connect with my other half. My favorite lyric comes up.

_ You know I see London, I see Sam's Town, Holds my hand and lets my hair down. Rolls that world right off my shoulder, I see London, I see Sam's Town now._

That's it I guess. Minato Felix Arisato is running for the hills to escape heartbreak and hatred. Does this make me a coward?

The train ride from the station was excruciating. Everyone kept staring at me. Was it my hair? I mean sure it's naturally blue and half of it's dyed snow white, but that is not grounds to stare at me like I'm some sort of freak of nature. Is it the way I carry myself? I know perfect posture isn't that common but I don't want to look like Quasimodo when I'm older? The way I dress then? Batman converse, red corduroy pants, a rage against the machine T-shirt, and dark green double breasted coat. So that's not typical for a Japanese school boy, but not grounds for looking at me like I'm some sort of eldritch abomination. I just sat there reading my Sandman and blasting the strokes into my earholes. Then I saw something strange, a glowing blue butterfly.

Then the train stopped at my stop and I let out a sigh. The lights died, my mp3 crapped out, blood started leaking from the walls and I was surrounded by coffins. Good old dead hour. Ten years of this and it's still creepy to me. I fixed my satchel and grabbed my guitar-case, walking out under the green sky. That moon still makes my heart beat rapidly, like it means something. I should elaborate, every day at 8:59 AM (11:59 PM here in good ol' japan) the world goes all H.P. Lovecraft for an hour and I'm the only person who knows it, everyone else takes a coffin nap.

I'm kind of used to it but the butterfly thing threw me for a loop. After ten years you get used to anything, except solitary confinement in prison. When I arrived in front of the dorm I was meant to move into I was taken aback. For all the cash I'm shelling out to go to Gekkoukan academy their living arrangements are crap. When I opened the door I entered what seemed to be a lobby slash common room, and there was a boy staring with the creepiest blue eyes at me wearing striped pajamas.

"Please tell me this dorm wasn't built on a German war sanctuary," I spoke in English. The kid just stared at me, like he wasn't expecting me to have such a morbid response. He shrugged off his surprise then snapped his fingers, a piece of parchment and pen quill appearing instantaneously. Okay then…. Kid's not what he seems to be.

"Before you go on, I have to ask you to sign this contract. It's just the usual stuff, that'll you'll take responsibility for your actions." He giggled as he handed the parchment and quill to me. I looked it over and it said just what he said it did. Chalking the experience up to dead hour craziness I gave the dotted line my John Hancock then passed it back to the creepy boy. He kind of reminds me of Danny from the Shining without the finger thing.

The kid giggled creepily again and snapped his fingers; the paper rolled up and disappeared. "Time waits for no one Felix. You can't run away from your problems, plug your ears, and ignore them," he told me. Great creepy and a smartass, apparently I'm crazy.

I was interrupted from my wild brainstorming by a feminine cry in Japanese coming from behind me. I turned around to see a pink-clad girl on the staircase pointing a gun at me. Déjà vu. Dropping my things quickly to the ground, I dashed over to her and kicked the gun out of her hand, weird it didn't feel like I was kicking metal. The girl yelped in surprise and fell back onto the stairs. I adjusted into a loose stance in case she wasn't done trying to murder me and barked at her in Japanese.

"What the hell? I show up to my new home and I get treated like some back alley prowler? And a fake gun? What are you? Some paranoid cos-player?" I maintained my aggressive street fighter stance and stared into her eyes. Yeesh, talk about deer in the headlights, the girls shaking like I threatened _her._ I was about to fire off another round of snarky questions when another voice sounded out, this one having a sense of elegance and obvious pretentiousness.

"What is going here?" The voice questioned. I turned around to be met with an extremely attractive face framed with red curls. Too bad a pretty face means nothing to me.

"Pinky here tried to put a round in my skull. So I was trying to discern her rationale behind doing so. Honestly. Is this how all Japanese greet people, because if that's the case I'm seriously gonna hate it here." Normally I'm more hospitable, but attempted murder kills my mood.

"Takeba? Is this true? I told you we had a new resident coming today." Oooh. Redhead is pissed. Better make a mental note not to make her angry.

"I thought…. I'm sorry senpai." Eat it Pinky!

"Don't apologize to me, apologize to him." Redhead gestured at me.

"I'm sorry. I over-reacted and thought you were a threat." A threat? Girl is loco in my opinion. But she does seem genuinely sorry.

"It's fine. I've had worse welcomes. Names Minato Felix Arisato. Sorry to spook you." No I'm not; you shouldn't have tried to murder me. Had you succeeded I would've pulled a Patrick Swayze and haunted your ass for all eternity, and it would be free of kinky invisible sex.

"Yukari Takeba, it's nice to meet you."

"And I'm Mitsuru Kirijo, I'm glad you made it here today. That means you'll be able to attend opening ceremonies at school tomorrow. Your things are already in your room. Takeba can you show him there?" What? I don't get a day to settle in and you're leaving me with the homicidal pink chick. That's it; you are on my shit list, effective immediately. That thought felt weird, like it goes against my nature.

Redhea….. I mean Mitsuru left me with the takeba chick. I picked up my satchel and guitar then nodded signaling I was ready to go to my room. We walked in silence until we reached the end of a hall on the second floor and she stopped in front of the last door on the right.

"Well here it is. Whatever you do don't lose your key; you'll never hear the end of it." Speaking from personal experience? So she's not only a psychopath but also an air head, wonderful. And my other roommate is seemingly Ms. Perfect who I am willing to bet my guitar (not really) has serious daddy issues? What's next a masochistic jock? Chauvinistic douche with self-esteem issues? Maybe I should've stayed in America and dealt with the incoming media shit-storm. I don't mean that, quirky roommates are better than facing the American public for my actions and lack-there-of.

Pinky left me with curt good-bye and I entered my room. It's a little sparse but I think that once I break out all my decorations and various entertaining stuff it'll be a little homely, hopefully. I set down my bag and guitar and crawl into some pajamas, then slip under the covers of my already made bed. Hm. Someone's kind-hearted and pure. It took me a while to get to sleep due to my natural insomnia and jet-lag, but eventual I fell into a deep sleep.

Despite the purpose of this move being to prevent stress, I have a sinking feeling that this year is going to turn my mind into a pretzel knot. Damn, I hate not being in a band.


	2. Chapter 2

_**A/n: here's chapter two. Hope you like it. And feel free to suggest music for Minato to play in a review. Once the story builds up some steam I'll start responding to reviews after each chapter.**_

__When I opened my eyes I was met with quite possibly the most horrific thing I have ever seen. Sitting across from me was a middle aged man with whose face was plastered with the creepiest grin of all time. We are talking Pazuzu from the exorcist creepy. To make matters worse the guy had pointy ears and these weird eyes that made me really uncomfortable. Averting my eyes from Mr. Super creepy, I surveyed my surroundings and quickly came to a conclusion, I am having a seriously fucked up dream right now.

Accompanying Mr. Super creepy was a very attractive young woman wearing what appeared to be an elevator attendant's uniform, which was appropriate as I was currently in a large blue elevator. There better be a decent explanation for this, and it better not be that I'm on acid. I was pulled out of my internal confusion when Mr. Creepy spoke up.

"Greetings, and welcome to the Velvet room. My name is Igor." Oh my god, that is too god damn appropriate.

"And this is my assistant Elizabeth," Igor gestured to the girl in the attendant's outfit.

"Do you know a doctor Frankenstein?" Okay, in my defense, you probably would've said the same thing. Igor just stared in response, clearly not amused, but Elizabeth giggled. Strange, normally the girls in my dreams are Freudian personifications of my insecurities, but Elizabeth is…. Cute.

"No. Now, I am sure you are wondering why you are here, and it is because of the contract you entered." Contract? Oh yeah the one concentration camp ghost kid had me sign. "Your destiny is a dark one, and unfairly balanced. The velvet room is here to tip the scales in your favor." What? Great, he's either a fortune teller or just bat-shit crazy.

"Uh, I think you have the wrong guy. I'm no one remarkable, and I'm pretty sure there's nothing dark about my destiny. This is just some crazy dream fueled by my stress and loneliness." That's all it could be, right? I mean, dreams have power, but not in a literal sense. But….. This doesn't feel like a dream. This… Velvet Room doesn't have that ethereal dream quality.

"That's not true. You're Minato F. Arisato, the lead singer and songwriter for Silent Knight." Elizabeth knows who I am? This place feels completely disconnected from wherever earth is, how would she?

"How do you know who I am? I mean, last time I checked Silent knight was really only big on earth, not whatever transcendental locale we're in now."

"I get around." She stared at me, like it was an obvious answer. Why is my heart fluttering? I shouldn't be feeling like this, not so soon.

"Well, now that we all are aware of each other's standing in existence let's move on. Minato, soon you will discover power unique to you. There are others who have a similar ability, but yours has certain qualities that make it something special. We will see you when you realize." Before I could question Igor I was hit with an invisible force that seemed to swallow me whole, my vision drifting into darkness. Then there was nothing.

My eyes snapped open to the sight of my dorm room. I sat up in bed and let out a sigh. Examining my alarm clock it turned out to be 4:00 in the morning, time to get up. I'm an extremely early riser, a fact that bothered my band mates on tour to no end, and I run on very little sleep. I got out of bed, stretching my back in the process, and rolled my shoulders a few times. After unpacking all of my belongings it was only 4:45, so I decided to go for a run. I slipped into a pair of track shorts and my joy division t-shirt, pulled on a hoodie and my mp3, then silently crept out of my room into the hallway.

I brought my heels down first going down the stairs, a trick I learned to quiet my movement, and then began to stretch in the lobby. The one time I didn't before running I wound up with a pulled hamstring, and I don't want a repeat of that experience. I was about to leave the dorm when I heard someone coming down the stairs. Turning around I was met with a familiar face, Mitsuru what's-her-face, looking at me with a stern expression.

"What are you doing?" Yeesh, I'm in exercise clothes, is exercise a foreign concept to the Japanese?

"I'm going for a run. Can't stop because of jet lag."

"At 5:00 in the morning?" I really don't like this girl, she asks too many questions. I don't care if she is my senpai or whatever.

"Well, this is the only chance I'll have to do it. School starts at what, 7:30 for us?" That's what it was in America at least, I mean I know I have to go on Saturdays and all, but they would start roughly the same time right?

"School begins at 9:00." Okay, no need to be deadpan. Honestly, you are not doing yourself any favors in my book by being such an ice queen.

"Oh well, I'm up and ready so I'll go ahead anyways." Before she could object I slipped out the door and pulled on my headphones, already in a jog.

I spent an hour on my jog, familiarizing myself with the layout of the town while listening to A Tribe Called Quest, just because I'm a successful independent artist doesn't mean I don't like rap, when I saw a familiar sight. I hadn't expected to see this place again in my lifetime, Naganaki shrine, where my parents met. I broke down, I couldn't help it.

I have nothing of my parents, save a few trinkets, and I really don't think about them. It takes a lot for me to succumb to grief like this though, it's not like anytime someone mentions ice-cream I start sobbing about how my mom loved ice-cream. But seeing the place where it all started for them, the place I became a possibility, which just made my heart ache.

I knelt in front of the offertory box, shaking with silent sobs when I felt a nuzzling sensation on my right side. Turning, I was met with the gaze of a dog with snow white fur. He was whimpering and continued to nose me, as if to say "Are you okay? Why are you crying?" I absolutely love animals, and they tend to love me, but with this dog it was different, like I had a special instantaneous bond with him.

"Hi there boy. Do you live here?" To my surprise he nodded his head and response, causing me to fall back. "You can understand me?" Another nod, then a head tilt and whimper.

"Okay, how in the world are you so smart?" The dog just tilted his head, a way to communicate "I don't know."

I looked down at the tag on his collar, Koromaru was written on it in kanji.

"Koromaru, hm. Well Koromaru, you are one of the few living individuals on this earth to witness me cry, so I guess that makes us friends. I have to go for now, but I promise to visit you after school today." Koromaru wagged his tail and yipped in response as I took off towards the dorm. That was an interesting experience, mourning my parents for the first time in ages and making friends with a hyper intelligent dog. But there's this weird buzzing in my head that started when Koromaru nuzzled me. Weird. I'm willing to bet it has to do with that that-not-exactly-a-dream I had a last night.

A quick jog back to the dorm later I was met with a terrifying sight to behold, a very pissed off Mitsuru Kirijo. Didn't I make a note to myself not to piss her off?

"Hi there Mitsuru senpai! Don't mind me I'm just going to get ready for school. Heheheh." Please don't kill me, please don't kill me. She just scowled response. Taking the hint I scrambled up the stairs to my dorm room, slamming the door behind me and sliding down against it to the floor. I let out a sigh, the sight of where my parents met, the buzzing in my skull from meeting Koromaru, and the scowling visage of Mitsuru burned in my consciousness all made for a very stressful morning. Freddy Krueger has nothing on that girl when she's pissed.

I still had an hour till school and was an absolute sweaty mess. I took a quick shower before slipping into my school uniform. Normally uniforms suck in terms of fashion appeal but this one is actually pretty cool. Especially the jacket, its got this cool zipper thing going on. I looked myself over in the mirror, and to my surprise I actually looked pretty good. I tend to avoid nicer clothing so I blend in more, but this uniform is actually very flattering. I'm really tall, thanks to my mom's genes, and slim due to my rigorous exercise regimen, so it's not hard to imagine most outfits aren't very flattering, and I'm very picky about my clothes. So that's one of my worries eliminated, the uniform isn't prison jumpsuit sheik.

I stuffed my school supplies and books into my satchel, grabbed my guitar (I hardly ever go anywhere without it, except on runs), and slipped on my mp3 lanyard. I opened the door and walked out into the hall when I was it with a sudden epiphany, I had no freaking idea where the hell Gekkoukan academy is. Maybe one of my dorm mates can guide me today, oh wait, they all hate me already. I walked down the stairs to the lobby where I saw an unfamiliar face.

"Hi there, names Akihiko Sanada, I'm a senior at Gekkoukan. Mitsuru asked me to walk you to school." Tall, athletic, and…. Grey hair? Did he dye it? Why grey?

"Thanks. I'm Minato Arisato. You and Mitsuru close?" I spent god knows how much perfecting honorifics. I still have to think before addressing someone though. He nodded in response then motioned for me to follow him out the door.

The two of us walked in near silence, save for the occasional question from him about my life, where I lived in America, and if I was really the lead singer from silent knight… wait what?

"Are you a fan?" I am seriously oblivious to my fan base. I know that makes me seem like a dick, but I don't really see myself as a people person.

"Well, yeah. I'd say everyone at Gekkoukan is, hell, even every teenager or twenty-something in Iwatodai is. Your music speaks man." Well… my ego was just inflated.

"So does that mean Beatle mania fan girls are going to descend on me like a pack of wolves?" His expression got all screwed up at the mention of fan girls. Negative past experiences?

"You should be fine; no one should recognize you with your hair like that. Wish I could just dye my hair and be done with public recognition."

"Why would you need to hide in plain sight? You seem rather non-descript." I'm not insulting him, but it's true. Other than his naturally grey hair, he's not all that striking. He's obviously athletic and not bad-looking (before you even consider it, I am straighter than a metal pole in Tennessee), but why would girls descend on him like white on rice?

"I'm the captain of the boxing team and I haven't lost a match yet. I'm pretty popular." Smug aren't you? Bet that you're also oblivious and naïve.

"So chances of being recognized are what? I really don't want to explain my presence in a Japanese school."

"What are you doing in Japan?" Greeeeeeeeat. He's nosy too. I made it obvious seconds ago that I didn't want to explain what the hell I'm doing in japan. I took a deep breath.

"I had a falling out with everyone in the band. We're pretty much broken up, but if Silent Knight stays together, it'll be without me." The guy had a horrified expression burned into his face, as if he was told the world was ending in ten seconds. Total Arthur Dent impersonation.

"But… why?" Hello! Take a hint! I said I didn't want to explain.

"You'll be able to find out soon enough; I don't want talk about it."

We had been on the train when our conversation started, and we were currently walking up to the school gates. Akihiko told me he had something to do for the boxing team and that I needed to go to the faculty office to finish up some details for my enrollment. He gave me directions and took off to another part of the school. I slipped my head phones on, my mp3 playing an Arcade Fire tune, and hummed along as I followed Akihiko's directions.

I ignored the strange looks I received from the other students, attributing them to the guitar and my hair, and walked into the faculty office. A young woman walked up to me and introduced herself.

"Hi there, I'm Ms. Toriumi. You're the American transfer student right? Now let me see here…" The lady now identified as Ms. Toriumi began shuffling through a file in her hands. Shouldn't she have already done this? "Minato F. Arisato, born right here in Iwatodai, regular records for the first two years of school. Then in 1999 your parents… oh my god I'm sorry! I didn't read these files beforehand and I…. I'm so sorry."

"Don't be, you didn't cause that car accident right?" Thanks lady, you just announced to the whole faculty within earshot that I'm a poor lonely orphan.

"You've lived in America for the past ten years with your maternal grandfather, where you acted as lead singer and songwriter for the band Silent Knight… that can't be right. I mean you look nothing like…" She took a sharp breath. Oh, shit. Fuck me, Fuck me so hard. I am so screwed right now aren't I? Everyone around the faculty office, which seemed to be predominantly students, was staring at me like I was an alien, or a rock star. Hopefully it's for the former.

"Are you the Minato Arisato?" Ms. Toriumi had stars in her eyes now and was looking at me intently.

"In a word? Yes, yes I am." That window behind us looks really inviting right now. It's practically screaming "Come Minato! Jump through me and escape to freedom!" Oh wait, I'm on the first floor. Damn.

"But what are you doing here? Isn't Silent Knight going on tour here? What are you doing in Japan?" I FUCKING HATE MY LIFE RIGHT NOW.

"I am no longer affiliated with the band known as Silent Knight. I only wrote half the album that was recently released, and if they continue with touring plans, I won't be a part of it." There was a collective "WHAT?!" from everyone under thirty in the room and it seemed to echo endlessly in my skull. "Listen, I know I some sort of celebrity or whatever, but that doesn't mean I don't like privacy. I'd appreciated it if I was treated like a normal student and just left alone. My reasons for leaving my previous life are my own and every person in the world who gives a rat's atrophied gluteus Maximus about Silent Knight doesn't need to be privy to them." Okay, so maybe I got a little angry there, but I needed to get my point across. I'm here to be away from stress and teenage bullshit, not to generate more of it.

Ms. Toriumi just looked down at her shoes with an ashamed expression, and everyone in the room went back to their own business.

"I'm sorry. I'm just a very private person, but it is a trait that's served me well in my life." Ms. Toriumi sighed in response.

"I understand, and I'm sorry for not acting professional. You'll be in my homeroom, but I teach junior composition as my regular class. We have to get to the opening ceremonies now, but I look forward to having you in my class, and I expect you to do well, after living America for so long." Was that a wink? Shit.

Ms. Toriumi escorted me to the auditorium where she broke away, telling me to wait outside the classroom later so I could be properly introduced to her class. I took a seat in the back of the auditorium where there were few students and put my headphones back on, deciding to listen to the Cars for a bit. In case you haven't noticed, I don't care too much about school. I mean I study and try, but I don't care about it. I have music for my career, and I can't really think of anything else I would want to do for a living. I like taking pictures, painting, and reading, those are my hobbies. I enjoy running, but track star fame is not in my cards of fate. Music is the only thing I can think of doing, but not like I was. More along the lines of songwriter for hire, like the guys in Steely Dan were before they got fed up with it and made their own awesome music.

The ceremonies passed quickly, I noticed Mitsuru was student council president, and that just made my day. I've already gotten the most powerful student here ticked off at me. She made a speech that I paid no attention to whatsoever, but it seemed to get a strong reaction. I bet she just made elf-sacrifice for the sake of the education system sound good with fancy wording; that seems like something she would do.

I walked to my classroom slowly and waited for a few minutes outside the classroom, remembering Ms. Toriumi's request. A few minutes later the door opened and Ms. Toriumi gestured me inside. I stood at the front of the class where Ms. Toriumi said a few things about me, just that I transferred from America and the like. While she was talking I noticed that Yukari was in my class, but she just averted my attention. Ms. Toriumi gave me a look to say go ahead and introduce yourself and I cleared my throat.

"Hi. My name is Minato F. Arisato. It's nice to meet you all." I have a sinking feeling. Of course, maybe I'm just paranoid and the reason that my new classmates are murmuring has nothing to do with me.

"Go ahead and take the seat next to Junpei-kun." I did just that, sitting in the empty desk next to a kid out of proper uniform wearing a baseball cap.

"Hey. What's up?" This Junpei guy seems nice enough, if a little slackerish.

"Nothing much. Trying to remain inconspicuous."

"Understandable. Ya know, you being a rock star and all." Great. I had to open my mouth.

"Yeah. It's just… yeah." Aren't I eloquent?

The class period passed slowly, mostly due to the constant glances everyone was giving me, and when lunch rolled around I was on edge, lacking an appetite, and desperately needed to get away from all the prying looks and whispers. I quickly left the room, guitar in hand, and ducked into the first empty room I could find. Looking around I realized I had out myself in the school's music room. Figures. I pulled a stool into the center of the room and pulled my guitar from its case. My acoustic isn't as nice as my electric phantom vox, modeled after the one Ian Curtis had, but it was my dad's, so it's worth its weight in precious jewels to me.

I plucked the strings in no particular order, warming myself up, and then started to strum out a tune. I don't play a lot of video games, not enough time, but the ones I do are always great. The song I was playing came from the game Bastion. It's a haunting song, but promises something good, it's called build that wall. I strummed through the opening then began singing. I was completely oblivious to the people who had sneaked in the room without me noticing, and by the time I finished the tune I had quite the audience. There was silence before applause broke out, and being the gracious performer I am, I took an over dramatic bow.

The rest of the day was the same as the morning, as in everyone stared at me. It sucked, end of story. I walked with Junpei on the way to the station. He's actually a rather nice guy, if a little lacking in the self-esteem department. I said goodbye to him once we got back to the mainland and went off to Naganaki shrine. Surprisingly, Koromaru was waiting for me in front of the shrine. That dog is scary smart. I sat at the shrine for an hour two, playing guitar while Koromaru frolicked, no not frolicked. He's too cool a dog to frolic, he romped. Yes, romped. It was nice and I don't think I've don't anything like it before in my life. I said goodbye Koromaru and promised him I would come back tomorrow morning to visit before school. The buzzing in my skull started again after that. Weird.

When I got back to the dorms Mitsuru was waiting for me with a strange man, who's very presence made me feel uneasy, despite his seemingly cheerful demeanor.

"Arisato-san this is Shuji Ikutski, the chairman of Gekkoukan academy." I waved at the man in question.

"Hi, I'm Minato Arisato. Nice to meet you. I hate to be rude, but I have homework." I took off up the stairs before anyone could interject, wanting to be far away from Ikustki as fast as possible. Once I was in my room I felt a sudden wave of fatigue and promptly collapsed.

The next day was the same deal, woke up early, went to the shrine, got chewed out by Mitsuru, walked to school with Akihiko, Yukari ignored me, played guitar during lunch, saw Koromaru again, the buzzing in my skull intensified, went back to my dorm, then passed out on my bed in my uniform. An exact repeat. Before drifting into unconsciousness, I realized I was already getting bored. Hopefully something happens to break up the monotony already setting in my new life.

I was awoken during the dead hour by a very loud knock at my door. Shrugging off my drowsiness I opened the door to a very worried Yukari Takeba. Okay, something is up.

"Good you're up. Listen, we need to get somewhere safe." What? Is that a sword she has in her hands? It's a piece of shit too, from what it looks like.

"What? Why? Do you guys have a problem with shadows here too?" Yukari looked astonished and was about to respond when a loud crash came from the first floor.

"There's no time! We have to move! Here, take this, just in case." She tried to hand me the short sword but I shook my hands no.

"I have something better." I ran into my room and pulled out the gift pop gave me before I left America, a sword that belonged to my great-grandfather. Why the hell he had a sword I have no idea, but I guess it came in handy. It's got a heron mark on the hilt and a straight blade with a curved tip.

"Why do you? Never mind, we need to go.

The two of us ran down the hall towards the stairs when another crash resounded through the dorm. Yukari stopped for a second and put her hand to her ear, then motioned for me to follow her up the stairs. We ran into another hall on the third floor. Another crash. My palms are sweating. I haven't seen a shadow in ten years and I'm actually excited to fight them. To kill the things that fucked my life up for all eternity, the things that robbed my parent's lives from them decades too soon. Yukari tried to open the door at the end of the hall, growing even more exasperated when she found that it was locked. She ran back down the hall and up the stairs, me trailing behind. CRASH! I don't know how to use a sword, but I'll kill these things with my bare hands if need be. They took everything from me. They're the cause of all of my heart ache and sorrow and pain and loneliness. We're on the roof now, nowhere to escape to now. The crashing sounds have stopped. There's a shadow in front of us. It's nothing like I would've thought it would've been, a giant mass of hands holding swords and a giant blue face mask. I think I want to fight it. I think I want to die in the process. Why not, no one would care except pop. I brandish my sword, ready for the end.

Yukari pulled out her fake gun and pointed it at her head, what in the world? A blast of blue flame appeared with swirling green light and then Yukari was knocked down to the ground by the shadow. Her gun slid across the ground, stopping in my feet. Something urged me to pick it up, imitating Yukari I put the gun against my head, right on my temple. A word pulled itself at the forefront of my mind.

"PER.."

I can feel it, underneath my psyche. My purpose, my muse, my power. How could I not have noticed it?

"SO…" This is why I wasn't satisfied. Why I pushed Alice away into someone else's arms. Why I left the band. Because I was dissatisfied with my life, because I didn't have this power. I was blind to my stagnation as a human being!

"NA…"

I pulled the trigger on the fake gun, the sound of glass shattering echoing throughout the city stuck in dead hour. Blue fire burst from my chest, enveloping my body. I could feel something in the back of my consciousness becoming unblocked, as if a part of me had just made itself known. A figure emerged from above me, robotic in appearance. His ball and socket joints plainly visible, holding his limbs together. On his back was an oversized lyre. His head was the only human part of him, with pitch black skin and red eyes. Around his neck was a long blood-red scarf.

_**Thou Art I**_

_** And I Am Thou.**_

_** From The Sea Of Thine Soul **_

_** I Come**_

_** I Am Orpheus**_

_** Master Of Strings**_

__Then something went wrong. Pain welled up in my head, spreading to the rest of my body. I screamed at the top of my lungs. Black arms emerged from Orpheus' mouth, pulling themselves out of him. Orpheus burst away, leaving a black clad figure. It looked like one of the drawing from my childhood, just like Orpheus did. It was tall and impossibly thin. Instead of a face he had a Metal mask resembling the skull of a velociraptor. In his claw like hands was a heron-marked sword, just like the one I had in my own. On his back were wings made of coffins, similar to the ones people went into during the dead hour. The events that followed can only be described as whole sale slaughter. The figure charged at the giant shadow, slicing it in twain with its sword. Every part of the shadow was ripped, crushed, mutilated, and eviscerated. Not a piece of the shadow was left, only a giant black puddle of ichor. It was awesome, like a Tarrantino movie come to life, and it was all because of me. Then I blacked out.


End file.
